Brush holder attachment



Oct. .7, 1958 E. E. KINTZ BRUSH HOLDER ATTACHMENT Filed NOV. 19, 1956 INVENTOR 5m 5 M/vrz BY 4 Mail ATTOENEY United States Patent BRUSH HOLDER ATTACHMENT Earl E. Kintz, Cleveland, Ohio Application November 19, 1956, Serial No. 622,900

3 Claims. (Cl. 220--96) This invention relates to a brush holder attachment for use in connection with containers such as paint buckets, water pails, and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a holder for paint brushes that can be attached to any container having a beaded rim and a wire bail or handle.

Another object is to provide an attachment of the type stated that will hold a paint brush in adjusted positions with reference to the contained liquid, either above or below the liquid surface.

A further object is to provide a brush holding attachment for containers, that will positively prevent tilting of the container with reference to the supporting bail, due to the eccentric position of the supported brush.

Still another object is to provide such an attachment, having fully flexible brush handle engaging jaws that will positively engage or release the handle upon the application of a minimum force.

Another object is to provide a device of the type stated that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, and easily attached or removed.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claims, together with the accompanying drawing, wherein;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the brush holding attachment that is the subject of this invention, showing it mounted on a conventional paint bucket;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device, in its unmounted condition;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same;

Figure 4 is a side elevation showing the brush engaging jaw in alternate adjusted positions; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the clamp member and associated bail engaging arm.

Referring more particularly to the drawing there is seen in Figure 1 the brush holder attachment that is the subject of this invention, broadly indicated by reference numeral 10, as it appears mounted on a conventional paint bucket 47 having a beaded rim 48 and a wire bail 49.

The attachment is mounted on the rim 48 in spaced relation to the bail 49, as illustrated, so that the bail 49 may be held in a vertical position without touching the supported paint brush 45, thus keeping it free of the paint that is on the brush bristles.

The attachment 10 has an upstanding post member 11 that may be fabricated from any suitable material, and in the preferred form illustrated is a length of rigid strap iron of substantially rectangular shape. The post 11 is provided with two dependent legs 12 and 13 that are spaced apart so that they may be positioned astride the rim bead 48, with one leg 12 in contact with the inner wall of the container 47 and the other leg 13 in contact with the outer wall thereof. The post 11 also has a vertically extending central slot 14 cut therethru. erally extending threaded bolt 28 is mounted in the post 11 immediately above the junction of the legs 12 and 13 as seen in Figure 4.

A lat-- "ice Reference numeral 35 broadly indicates a brush engaging jaw that is formed from a single length of resilient steel ribbon. The jaw 35 has the configuration of a triple reversed U, with a base portion 36 having two outwardly extending legs 37 and 38 which are curved inwardly at 39 and 40, respectively, to form a pair of substantially parallel and spaced inner brush engaging leaves 41 and 42 whose ends 43 and 44 are at the base 36, as is seen most clearly in Figure 2. The structure described provides a jaw whose elements 37 and 38 can be flexed relative to the base 36 and whose elements 41 and 42 can be flexed relative to the points 39 and 40. The double flexing action thus provided enables a brush handle to be easily inserted between the jaw surfaces 41 and 42, which yield readily under slight pressure, but grip the handle securely, once it is in place. Similarly, the handle may be disengaged from the jaw 35 with a minimum effort. This so-called soft action of the jaw 35 does away with the danger of tipping the bucket or splashing of the paint which occurs when conventional stiff acting jaws are used.

The jaw 35 is mounted on a slide 15 having side flanges 16 and 17 and a central vertically extending slot 18. The slide 15 is slidably mounted on the post 11 with its side flanges 16 and 17 tracking against the edges of the post 11 and its slot 18 aligned with the slot 14 of the post 11. A bolt 19 having a thumb nut 20 extends through the two slots. The slide 15 is secured in adjusted positions vertically of the post 11 by tightening the thumb nut 20. As seen in Figure 4 the jaw 35 may be moved from a low position in which the bristles of a supported brush are immersed in the contained paint, to a raised position 35A whereat the bristles will be above the liquid so that the brush may drain free of paint.

Reference numeral 22 indicatesa rectangular sheet metal clamp having inturned ends 24 and 25 that fit over the leg 13. The flanges 24 and 25 have aligned notches 26 and 27, respectively, cut in the terminal edges thereof.

A laterally extending bail engaging arm 31 is mounted on the front of the clamp 22 and extends upwardly there'- of at an angle of approximately 45 as shown in Figure 5. The arm 31 has an inturned hook 32 formed at the end thereof and the arm 31 is curved so that the hooked end 32 will lie in the plane of the bail 49 when it is in an upright, or vertical position, as seen in Figure 1. The clamp 22 is mounted over the leg 13 by means of bolt 28 which passes through a hole 23 in the clamp 22. When so mounted the flanges 24 and 25 bear against either edge of the leg 13 with the container rim head 48 nested in the flange notches 26 and 27. The Washer 29 is positioned on the bolt 28 against the front face of the clamp 22 and the thumb nut 30 is drawn tightly up against the washer, as seen in Figure 4. This causes the clamp 22 to be compressed against the leg 13 and the rim bead 48. This action also clamps the two legs 12 and 13. against the inner and outer walls of the container 47, thereby anchoring the attachment 10 firmly in place. Lateral movement of the post 11 is prevented by the clamp flanges 24 and 25 which bear against the edge of leg 13, while vertical movement of the structure is prevented by the rim head 48 which is nested in the clamp notches 26 and 27.

At the same time the hooked end 32 of the arm 31 is positioned to engage the ball 49. When it is desired, suspend the container 47 by means of the bail 49, the bail is raised to its vertical position and pressed against the curved end of the book 32. The natural resilience of the arm 31 will cause it to flex slightly, thereby permitting the bail to pass across the end of the arm and beyond the hook. When the bail is brought back to the vertical, it is caught and held in the hook 32. The weight of the fixture 10 and its supported .brush 45 would normally act to tilt the container 47 on the bail 49, away from the horizontal, thereby spilling the contents of the container.

However, it will be noted that the length of the arm 31 is calculated to maintain the bail 49 at a position substantially perpendicular to the rim 48 of the container 47, so that no matter how great the tilting force of the supported brush may be, the rim will always maintain a horizontal position with reference to the vertical bail. As a result the contents of the container 47 will never be spilled when my attachment is used.

It will now be clear that there is provided a device which accomplishes the objectives heretofore set forth. While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the specific embodiment thereof as described and illustrated herein is not to be considered in a limited sense, as there may be other forms or modifications of the invention which should also be construed to come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A brush holder attachment for containers having a bail and a beaded rim, comprising in combination, a post member having an upstanding portion and a pair of dependent legs adapted to be positioned astride the container rim, spaced from the bail ends, with one leg in contact with the inner wall and the other leg in contact with the outer wall of the container, a threaded bolt mounted through the post at the legs, a clamp member mounted on the bolt over the outer leg and including inturned ends having aligned notches for receiving the rim bead therein, a nut mounted on the bolt, operable to press the clamp member against the outer leg and rim bead, whereby the post is securely clamped to the container wall against lateral and vertical movement, a brush engaging jaw mounted on the upright portion of the post, and a rigid arm immovably mounted on the clamp, extending laterally and upwardly therefrom at an angle, and having an inturned hooked end engageable with the aforesaid bail when the bail is positioned perpendicular to the container rim, the length of the arm being such that it will form the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the so hooked bail and container rim, whereby the container is positively held in a horizontal position when suspended by the bail.

2. A brush holder attachment for containers having a bail and a beaded rim, comprising in combination, a post member having an upstanding portion and a pair of dependent legs adapted to be positioned astride the container rim, spaced from the bail ends, with one leg in contact with the inner wall and the other leg in contact with the outer wall of the container, a threaded bolt mounted through the post at the legs, a clamp member mounted on the bolt over the outer leg and including inturned ends having aligned notches for receiving the rim bead therein, a nut mounted on the bolt, operable to press the clamp member against the outer leg and rim bead, whereby the post is securely clamped to the container wall against lateral and vertical movement, a brush engaging jaw slidably mounted on the post and movable vertically thereof between adjusted positions, and a rigid arm immovably mounted on the clamp, extending laterally and upwardly therefrom at an angle, and having an inturned hooked end engageable with the aforesaid bail when the bail is positioned perpendicular to the container rim, the length of the arm being such that it will form the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the so hooked bail and container rim, whereby, the container is positively held in a horizontal position when suspended by the bail.

3. A device of the type defined in claim No. 2 and further characterized by the brush engaging jaw being a single length of resilient metallic ribbon bent upon itself to form an outwardly faced U having the side legs thereof bent inwardly and extended down to the base of the U to form two substantially parallel and spaced flexible U-shaped brush handle engaging surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

